Introduction:

The Covid-19 pandemic is a Public Health problem, which affects people with vulnerability, such as people with HIV/AIDS, in order to know their behavior and improve prevention and control strategies, it is necessary to evaluate the perception of risk and severity they have.

Objective:

To determine the perception of risk and severity of Covid-19 in people living with HIV and who attends to medical controls at the Departmental Center for Surveillance, Information and Reference (CDVIR) of the city of Cochabamba.

Methods:

A cross-sectional, quantitative study was carried out between 327 people living with HIV who attended the CDVIR between May and June 2021. A survey was applied with risk perception and severity questions taken from the survey “Covid-19: Guidance and Survey Tool” prepared by the Pan American Health Organization, with 7 responses from 1 to 7 on the Likert scale, with 0.92 Cronbach's Alpha.

Results:

39% of people with HIV / AIDS have an inadequate perception of risk and severity, with a statistically significant association with age (p = 0.001), level of education (p = 0.05) and presence of comorbidities (p = 0.0006). Conclusions: The inadequate perception of risk and severity in front of COVID-19, occurs especially among the youngest, with a lower educational level and without the presence of comorbidities, which could hinder prevention actions to avoid the spread of Covid-19 in these people..